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Starter

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Teams are more likely to win with a great QB and a weak LT than they are with a weak QB and a great LT. Thus QB is more important than LT.

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I don't think we've seen that demonstrated, nor do I believe your first sentence proves your second.

If you were to take stock of, say the last 15 Super Bowl champions, I would make the argument that a more vital factor of what made a majority of them different was some phase of their defense was elite as opposed to featuring an elite quarterback.

The last two Giants teams that won for instance, what made them different than say, the Packers teams that did not win those years was not an advantage at quarterback but an advantage with their pass rush. Eli may have played well, and that play was essential to their success, but I dunno how you could justify that he was "the most important player on their team."

Ditto with Rothlisberger on the Steelers teams that won.

Flacco had a great run a couple of years back, but defense and special teams made a significant contribution to wins against Denver and New England, to say nothing of the play of Bryant McKinnie at LT.

To say nothing of the reigning champion. I'm not sure how you could say a quarterback who has less passing attempts than anyone else in the league is, "the most important player on his team."

Rodgers, Brees, Brady and Peyton are all champions, true. But not during years when they weren't playing with elite players in other phases of the game or featured some other weak link (witness Brady's offensive line both years against the Giants).



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@PrometheusFaulk, if you require proof then this discussion is pointless. We can say what has happened to a team with a good player in 1 position and a bad player in another. We can only say what might happen if the good player was replaced with a bad player and the bad player was replaced with a good player. Since there's very little evidence of such a change it will have to remain as conjecture. If there were proof we would both be in agreement and we wouldn't be having this discussion.

In 2009 Orlando Pace played his final season in the NFL with the Chicago Bears. He was as bad at LT that year as any player i've seen play the position. He constantly needed help and the Bears had to change their offense because of him. Cutler, Forté, and the defense got the team to 7 wins. There's no way to prove what that team would have done with the 2003 Pace replacing the 2009 Pace and the 2009 Hanie replacing the 2009 Cutler. I don't think they'd win 7 games, but it's conjecture.

I can't prove that the Packers wouldn't have won the Superbowl with Cutler and Forté replacing Rodgers and Starks.

Hall of Fame

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ST. LOUIS — ESPN’s Ron Jaworski rated the Rams’ Sam Bradford as the 24th-best starting quarterback going into the 2014 season.
“Bradford remains a talented passer with excellent arm strength,” Jaworski said during ESPN’s SportsCenter segment. “He can make every throw with velocity, tough and accuracy.”

“Bradford is primarily a pocket quarterback,” Jaworski continued. “When he’s well-protected and comfortable in the pocket, he can be a high-level passer. He has shown flashes of that in his four-year career.”

The No. 1 pick in the 2010 NFL Draft out of the University of Oklahoma, Bradford put up good numbers in his seven starts in 2013 before suffering a season-ending knee injury. He completed 60.7 percent of his passes, with 14 touchdowns and four interceptions, and a passer rating of 90.9.

“Bradford’s struggles have often resulted from his unrefined feel for pocket movement,” Jaworski said. “There are times he seems anchored in the pocket, unable to move and reset.

“Third down has also been a problem for Bradford. In 2013, in his seven starts before an ACL tear ended his season, he completed less than 50 percent of his passes. He must improve on that critical down to become a more consistent quarterback.”

Bradford completed 68 percent of his passes on first down in 2013, then 62.4 percent on second down and 49.3 percent on third down. In his four-year career Bradford has completed 51.9 percent of his passes on third down.

Madman with a box.

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Valid criticisms. Hopefully he faces fewer third-and-long situations than he did early last year... that whole early-season offensive strategy combined with Richardson's inability to generate a handful of positive yards when met at the line didn't help set Sam and the offense up for achievable third-down situations.

I could see some debate, but I would think if you were to poll every football fan in the country there would be a consensus that these five seasons would at least be in the top ten. And none of them won a championship.

Simple question, if quarterbacks truly were the most important position on the field, how is it that out of five (and quite possibly the five) of the best seasons quarterbacks have ever had in the history of the league, none of their teams won the thing at the end?

Hall of Fame

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Valid criticisms. Hopefully he faces fewer third-and-long situations than he did early last year... that whole early-season offensive strategy combined with Richardson's inability to generate a handful of positive yards when met at the line didn't help set Sam and the offense up for achievable third-down situations.

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The validity lacks when it come to the point of the youth of the WRs. This is always a problem with me, because when you look at QBs the talent around them has to match also.

When you say a QB can "make every throw in the book"...the next page should look at the talent around him.

That said...I'm looking for Sam to be much better this year...the first year I feel comfortable with the help around.

Warner-phile

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As far as one single position goes, it's hard to see how any other position is more important than QB on a football team. Now, is a good QB more valuable than an entire good defense? No. But what single position would you take over a good QB?

A snazzy title

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As far as one single position goes, it's hard to see how any other position is more important than QB on a football team. Now, is a good QB more valuable than an entire good defense? No. But what single position would you take over a good QB?

Hamburger Connoisseur

Moderator

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As far as one single position goes, it's hard to see how any other position is more important than QB on a football team. Now, is a good QB more valuable than an entire good defense? No. But what single position would you take over a good QB?

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I wouldn't rate any other position as equal or more important than the QB.

Out of the last 20 years, I see 3-5 guys who weren't obviously pro-bowl caliber and Eli's a debatable example. So, Dilfer and Brad Johnson rode their way to a title but everyone else had a pro-bowl/HOF level QB that either helped them get to and/or win the big game.

Not to say those positions don't have value but look at Ogden in Baltimore. Sure, they won it all because of their defense but they spent years trying to find a suitable QB. Or Jones in Seattle. They had Hasslebeck who was alright but they also spent a long while trying to find the right guy at QB while they had elite LT play. If one has to make a choice, I think it has to be QB over LT.

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